Gaming briefs for Nov. 10, 2003

Monday, Nov. 10, 2003 | 11:16 a.m.

Room occupancy slips

RENO -- Room occupancy for hotels and motels in the Reno area slipped slightly in September, partly because of a quirk of the calendar.

Occupancy was 74.4 percent, off 1.8 percent from September 2002.

The average room rate was $63.60, off 76 cents or 1.2 percent from the previous September.

Reno Hilton spokesman Steve Trounday said most of Labor Day weekend fell in August, and it's traditionally a weekend that brings higher occupancy and higher rates.

The Hilton bucked the trend, with higher rates and greater occupancy than a year earlier.

LVCVA plans promotional section in magazine

Las Vegas will spotlight its position as a good location for corporate meetings and incentive bonus travel in a business publication that will reach 4.5 million readers.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority announced last week that it would collaborate with Forbes magazine to produce a special advertising supplement to be inserted in the publication's Feb. 2 and April 26 editions.

Rob Dondero of R&R Partners, the LVCVA's contracted advertising agency, said the LVCVA would work with Forbes on the section, which is using the working title "Las Vegas: Corporate Meetings/Incentives Paradise." The section will highlight the city's meeting centers, resorts and casinos, restaurants and entertainment, recreational attractions and natural beauty.

Dondero said the LVCVA has committed to paying $200,000 for the supplement and would seek Southern Nevada resort properties to advertise in the section.

Casinos oppose track slots

DETROIT -- The Greektown, MGM Grand and MotorCity casinos are considering petitioning for a November 2004 vote on plans to allow slot machines at horse tracks.

"They should have to do the same thing we had to do," said Vivian Carpenter, a member of the board of directors of MotorCity Casino. "We were told we had to get the vote of the people. They should be forced to, too."

Carpenter said polls show a majority of state voters disapprove of expanded gambling at the tracks.

The ballot measure could be in the form of a constitutional amendment, which the Legislature could not change, or an initiative, which the Legislature could alter.

The Detroit casinos say their revenue stream is threatened by legislation that has passed the House and is sitting in a Senate committee.

It would allow the state's seven racetracks to have 500 to 2,000 video lottery terminals, or slot machines, tied into the state lottery system. It also would allow Internet gambling and phone-in gambling, as well as off-track betting parlors.